Magic Shoes

I’ve told this story in person a million times because it’s just so darn cute, and I just realized I should share it here too. Darwin has magic shoes.

We have fought off and on with Darwin about putting on shoes (like most kids, I think). She has gone through several pair that she’ll like just fine every once in a while, but I was so tired of the regular morning begging for her to put her shoes on. Often, I would carry her to the car without shoes at all due to time constraints. So one day, we went down to a local shoe store. I wasn’t going to order pair after pair online only to have them sit, rejected in the closet. The saleswoman in the store greeted us and asked if we could help. I was a little flustered since I didn’t know how this would go with Darwin, and said something along the lines of “I need some shoes that she’ll wear. That she will just put on without an argument.” I paused, reflecting on how ridiculous that sounded and clarified, “Basically, I need Magic Shoes.” And I laughed, self-deprecatingly.

I looked at their rack of kid shoes and pointed to one that looked vaguely promising. “How about we try those in an 8?” The woman smiled and took the shoe to the back while Darwin kept looking from one shoe display to another. She loves the idea of shoes, but the execution of wearing them not so much. The saleswoman returned with three boxes. “Okay,” she said, “we have these in an 8 and a 9, just in case. And we also have another style you might try.”

I took the size 8’s in the style I’d sent her for, and Darwin was willing to try them out. She seemed mildly enthused and wore them happily on a circle around the store. Then I looked at the other box. The shoes were high tops, with shiny, sparkly stuff on them, but they weren’t a horrid pepto bismol pink, so I figured why not? Darwin’s eyes lit up when she saw them. Lit up like a solstice tree. I asked if she wanted to try them on and she nodded. The first words out of her mouth when they were on her feet were “THESE ARE GOOD!” After which she proceeded to hop and run around the store gleefully. The other patrons were charmed, thankfully.

And these shoes have lived up to their magic. I can count on one hand the number of times Darwin has refused them in the past two months. They are sturdy, barely showing any wear in that time too, in spite of essentially being the only shoes she wears. This experience has made me decree (to Leah’s complete agreement) that from here on out, our kids don’t use hand-me-down shoes. They each get a nice pair and a play pair, plus slippers and boots, and they’re all their own.

The best photo of the Magic Shoes. They’re Keen Encanto Scouts, for anyone who needs their own Magic Shoes.